Biography for Birgit Skiöld

Member

Birgit Skiöld was Secretary of the Senefelder Group of Artist Lithographers and in 1965 a founder member of the Printmakers Council.

Travels

She came to England from her native Sweden in her mid-twenties settling in London and visited Japan in 1970.

Employment

In London Skiöld set up a print workshop, first in 1956 in George Street and then in its permanent home in a basement in Charlotte Street. This became a focus and main meeting place for artists who wanted to have access to printing presses.
Always aware of current developments taking place in Europe and America, lithography was Skiöld's first medium. In the late 1960s when screenprinting was all the rage, she preferred to concentrate on etching, mostly abstracted, using aquatint and frequently embossing, printed with remarkable precision. A visit to Japan in 1970 introduced her to the ambiguous clarity of Zen gardens. With their raked sand and few chosen rocks they provided Skiöld with subject-matter for her prints over many years.